BEFORE THE
PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission :
:
v. : R-00072711
: R-00072711C0001 et al.
Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. :
PREHEARING ORDER
A telephonic prehearing conference was held on January 29, 2008. The presiding officers were Administrative Law Judges Charles E. Rainey, Jr. and Guy M. Koster. Present were Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. (AP), Office of Trial Staff (OTS), Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), Office of Small Business Advocate (OSBA), Aqua Large Users Group (Aqua LUG), Philadelphia Suburban Association of Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors (PSA), Masthope Rapids Property Owners Council (Masthope) and Hedgerow Homeowner’s Association (Hedgerow).
1. Prehearing Conference Memoranda
In compliance my Prehearing Conference Order dated January 11, 2008, prehearing conference memoranda were submitted by AP, OTS, OCA, OSBA, Aqua LUG, PSA, Masthope and Hedgerow.
2. Petition to Intervene
On January 7, 2008, Masthope filed a petition to intervene in this proceeding. There were no objections. I granted Masthope’s petition to intervene.
3. Active and Inactive Parties
Active party participation in this proceeding includes:
(a) The obligation to comply with the administrative law judges’ orders.
(b) The obligation to serve all other parties with pleadings.
(c) The obligation to respond to discovery requests.
(d) The obligation to attend prehearing conferences and hearings.
(e) The right to present evidence.
(f) The right to cross-examine witnesses.
(g) The right to discovery.
(h) The right to file motions, briefs and exceptions.
Inactive parties to this proceeding will receive certain documents such as any settlement petition, the administrative law judges’ recommended decision, and final commission order, but will not receive other documents such as copies of discovery, testimony and exhibits, motions, interim rulings and correspondence. Inactive parties may testify at a public input hearing.
Any complainant not attending the prehearing conference held on January 29, 2008, must within 10 days of the date of this prehearing order, file with the Commission and submit to me a letter which states that the complainant will participate as an active party in this proceeding. Failure of the complainant to timely file with the Commission and submit to me such a letter will result in the complainant being removed from the active party service list and placed on an inactive party service list.
The Commission’s address for filing purposes is:
James McNulty, Secretary
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
P.O. Box 3265
Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265
My address is:
Charles E. Rainey, Jr.
Administrative Law Judge
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Philadelphia State Office Building
Room 1302
1400 West Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
4. Discovery
Effective January 29, 2008, the following discovery rules shall apply in this proceeding:
(a) Answers to written interrogatories shall be served in-hand within 10 calendar days after service of the interrogatories.
(b) The answering participant must make any objections orally to the participant submitting the interrogatories within 3 calendar days after service of the interrogatories.
(c) Written objections shall be served on the parties, filed with the Commission, and submitted to the presiding officer, within 5 calendar days after service of the interrogatories.
(d) Motions to compel answers to interrogatories shall be served on the parties, filed with the Commission, and submitted to the presiding officer within 3 calendar days after service of the written objections.
(e) Answers to motions to compel answers to interrogatories shall be served on the parties, filed with the Commission, and submitted to the presiding officer within 3 calendar days after service of the motion to compel.
(f) Rulings on motions to compel shall be made within 7 days of the presiding officer’s receipt of the motion to compel, if practicable.
(g) When a written request for admissions is made, matters are deemed admitted unless the request is answered in writing within 10 calendar days or objected to in writing within 5 calendar days after the request is made.
(h) Answers to on-the-record data requests will be served in-hand within 7 calendar days of the request.
(i) Discovery requests and/or responses to discovery delivered on a Friday after 12:00 noon will be deemed served on the following Monday or next business day if the Monday is a holiday observed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(j) The parties are expected to cooperate with each other in regard to discovery.
(k) The parties are encouraged to amicably resolve discovery disputes among themselves.
5. Schedule for Written Testimony, Evidentiary Hearings and Briefs
The following schedule was agreed to by the parties and adopted:
February 28, 2008 Direct Testimony of Parties other than AP due in-hand
March 20, 2008 Rebuttal Testimony of all Parties due in- hand
April 8, 2008 Surrebuttal Testimony of all Parties due in- hand
April 15-18, 21, 2008 Evidentiary Hearings
May 8, 2008 Main Briefs due in-hand
May 16, 2008 Reply Briefs due in-hand
The evidentiary hearings will be held in an available hearing room in the Philadelphia State Office Building, Broad and Spring Garden Streets, 13th Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130. The evidentiary hearings will begin at 10:00 a.m.
Parties are to work together and present to the ALJs at least one week before the evidentiary hearings, a schedule which includes the order of witnesses each day and the topic(s) the witness will address that day.
Written testimonies and briefs are due in-hand by 4:00 p.m. on the due dates. Technical terms and concepts are to be clearly defined and explained in written testimonies and briefs.
Briefs must follow the content and form for briefs as set forth in 52 Pa. Code §5.501. Briefs shall include proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and ordering paragraphs. Briefs shall be as concise as possible. Any unpublished opinions, decisions or policies cited in a brief, must be attached to the brief. Briefs shall also follow the “Special Instructions for Briefs and Exceptions in Major General Rate Increase Proceedings” and “Standardized Brief Format for General Rate Increase Proceedings” which are attached to this order at Appendix A.
6. Public Input Hearings
We will endeavor to schedule public input hearings consistent with the following proposal of the parties.[1] However, the dates, times and places for the public input hearings are subject to change.
Date Place Time
1. March 4, 2008 Luzerne Twp. 7:00 p.m.
Kingston Twp. Municipal Bldg.
2. March 5, 2008 West Chester/Newtown Sq. 7:00 p.m.
Borough of West Chester Municipal Bldg.
3. March 6, 2008 Lansdowne 2:00 p.m.
Lansdowne Borough Hall
4. March 6, 2008 Montgomery County 7:00 p.m.
Penn State Abington Campus
Once the dates, times and places for the public input hearings are confirmed, AP is to advertise the public input hearings in a timely fashion. AP is to work with any interested parties in regard to the wording of the public input hearing announcements and where and how the public input hearing announcements are to be published and/or broadcast. At each public input hearing, AP is to introduce an exhibit that provides the wording of the public input hearing announcement, where it appeared and on what dates.
7. Document Submission
Written testimonies and briefs may be delivered to Administrative Law Judges Rainey and Koster via electronic mail on the date due as long as a hard copy is delivered to them by the following business day via overnight mail or hand delivery. The parties may enter into an agreement in regard to the manner in which they will serve documents on each other. The parties are otherwise required to serve documents on each other consistent with the Commission’s rules at Title 52 of the Pennsylvania Code.
______
Charles E. Rainey, Jr.
Administrative Law Judge
Guy M. Koster
Administrative Law Judge
Date: January 30, 2008
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Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission v. Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc.
Docket Nos. R-00072711, R-00072711C0001 et al.
SERVICE LIST
Thomas P. Gadsden, Esquire Andre C. Dasent, Esquire
Anthony C. DeCusatis, Esquire One Liberty Place
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1650 Market Street, 36th Floor
1701 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19103
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921
Richard Kanaskie, Esquire Dianne E. Dusman, Esquire
Robert V. Eckenrod, Esquire Darlene Wong, Esquire
Pa. Public Utility Commission Jennedy Santolla, Esquire
Office of Trial Staff Candis A. Tunilo, Esquire
P.O. Box 3265 Office of Consumer Advocate
Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265 555 Walnut Street, Forum Place
5th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1921
Daniel G. Asmus, Esquire Charis Mincavage, Esquire
Office of Small Business Advocate Barry Naum, Esquire
Commerce Building, Suite 1102 McNees, Wallace & Nurick, LLC
300 North Second Street 100 Pine Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101 P.O. Box 1166
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1166
John F. Povilaitis, Esquire John Dillon
Matthew Totino, Esquire 485 N. Buhl Farm Drive
Ryan, Russell, Ogden & Seltzer Hermitage, PA 16148
800 North Third Street, Suite 101
Harrisburg, PA 17102
Richard P. Odato Ronald Zeibig
501 Ashley Lane 123 Ash Street
Jefferson Hills, PA 15025 Tunkhannock, PA 18657
Doris L. Jensen Margaret C. Hindenach
75 War Trophy Lane 2029 Waterloo Road
Media, PA 19063-5244 Berwyn, PA 19312
Peter Crane William G. Toole, III
54 S. Linden Avenue 217 Country Road
Aldan, PA 19018 Berwyn, PA 19312
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John R. Carty Theodore C. Dmytryk
738 Mustin Lane 1221 Seabird Drive
Villanova, PA 19085 Bristol, PA 19007
John H. Celluci, Esquire Quang Dinh
426 St. Davids Avenue 211 Brandywine Road
Wayne, PA 19087 Collegeville, PA 19426
Paul R. Cress Marie Shively
405 Highland Avenue 1428 Bath Road
Morton, PA 19070-1108 Bristol, PA 19007
James M. McMaster, Esquire Stephen Caldcraro
6001 Bensalem Boulevard 145 Barbara Drive
Bensalem, PA 19020 Springfield, PA 19064
Werner G. Schmidt, Jr. Ernest J. DiFilippo
779 Dogwood Terrace 3 Kincaid Court
Boiling Springs, PA 17007-9633 Media, PA 19063-1148
Rodney & Shanya Pressley Frederick Reece
513 Alexander Avenue 2805 Half Mile Post South
Drexel Hill, PA 19026 Garnet Valley, PA 19061
Susan O. Vansomeren Lisa Curran
2544 Bond Avenue 516 Lawrence Road
Drexel Hill, PA 19026 Havertown, PA 19083
Paul Barry Anne W. Banse
403 St. John’s Circle 8 Biddlewood Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460 Wyndmoor, PA 19038
Joseph J. Silva
103 Edgewood Drive West
Clarks Summit, PA 18411-9383
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APPENDIX A
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[1] The parties agreed to holding public input hearings at all of the locations, with the exception of Lansdowne. AP proposed that the public input hearing be held in Media instead. After hearing arguments from the OCA and AP, I determined that we will endeavor to hold the public input hearing in Lansdowne. According to counsel for both AP and OCA, Lansdowne and Media are about 6 miles apart.